Bag-turning apparatus



Jan. 8, 1929.- 1,698,110

' C. F. SPARKS` Y Y' BAG TURNXNG APPARATUS -Filed gov., 1e. 1925 2 sheets-sheet '1 Jan. 8, 1929.

C. F. SPARKS BAG TURNING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 16, 1925 F.HMMMMH CFI generated.I lThis inrushing current of airV Patented Jan. S, i929.

Unirse stares i I gtreatieearinr @rence-E oHAnLEs ir. SPARKS, or sfr. Louis, inissoiini.

BAG-runtime Arreue'rus.

application inea November 1e, 1925.5. serial' irq. eaiss.

This invention relates to mechanical ap paratus used in connection with the manufacture of bags, and with regard to certain more Y operation to the machine need not be denitely synchronized for perfect and continuous operation; the provision of a machine of the class described which is readily and simply adjustable; the provision of a machineof the class described which will eliminate delays due to the 'jamming and sticking which are inherent in denitely synchronized bag turning machines; and the provision of a machine of the class described which is automatic in operation, simple and inexpensive in construction, but which has a high output Capacity. Other objects will be in part obvious and in vpart pointed out hereinafter. Y 'Y The invention accordingly consists of the i elements and combinations of elements, features ofv construction, and arrangements of parts` which will be exemplified in the structure hereinafter described and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In :the accompanying drawings, in which is shown one of various possible embodiments of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the machine taken from front to rear and is talen on line 1-1 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of thev machine;`

Fig. is a fragmentary detail section taken approximately on line 3 3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. a is a fragmentary section taken on line l-a of Fig. 1. A'

' lfJorresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several viewsof .the drawings.

In the prior art relating to the turning of bags, the bags have been ,turned by holding them open end to a wind trunk.V VThe trunk has been provided withl suction apparatus wherebyan inrushing current of air has been drew the bag into the trunk, thereby turning it inside-out or outside-in, depending' upon the particular operation or function desired. Thereafter the inrushing current air Was cut on', the bag holding meansl madey releasable and a withdrawing mechanism set into oper- Yation,.all at once, and usually by some synchronized means. This system required a rather fine degree of synchronization which is not vpractically operable with bags of varying size, texture and condition of material. Fur'- therniore, such-apparatus was difiicultto design for making adjustments relative'to bag sizes, that is, without complicating .the machine beyond practical limits.

Simple, all-manually operable devices have been constructed, but for the larger sizes of bags they tax the strength of an operator to such an ext-ent that output ris seriously'cle# creased` `The present devicel obviates the v above difliculties. Referring now more particularl to Fig. 1 of the drawings herewith, there is illustrated at numeral 1 a preferably vertical wind trunk of a substantially rectangular cross section (see alsolFig. 2). At its lower end this trunk l V1 is provided with anhadjustable telescoping portion (of similar rectangular cross section) for purposes of longitudinal adjustment as regards the lengthk of the trunk. A bolt-and'- slot combination 45 serves to lhold a predeterininedjadjiistment between 'the' telescoping parts 1 and 3. The trunk 1' is braced toivertical A-sliaped frames 17 andi) by means of al .brace bar or forgingll. f "7p The'A-shaped frames 7 Iand 9 are upwardlyV4 provided with bearings 13 and'15 respective ly. These bearings rotatably carryin and between them ahollow cross-shaft 17 to which is Permanently fastened@ hollow amm '01- cylinder 18. The cylinder 18 has closed ends Y 19 and 21 which engagenthe `shaft 17 at points within the bearing'aireas of said shaft. The

shaft 17 and drum 18 maybe cast or otherwise lformed as levolviiiguiiit.' Theends 19aiid 214 of the drinn function asthrust collars as well as to close in the drum 1,8.` "NVithin the drum 18 the interior of the hpllowishaft is made to communicate with the'hollow interior of said drum by way of'a plurality of open- Y l ings 23, At the end located at bearing 13, the hollow shaft 17 is plugged shut. At the other lbearing 15 shaft conti-nues out past the bearing'as an 'overhangiln'g shaft.V At the end of the overhanging portion yit engages `an air pipe 25'by` means yof a stuifing'gland`27. i The Y gland 27 permits `ofrelative rotation'between the shaft 17 and pipe'25 and'yetaifords an` airtight oint therebetween. The hollowinterior of the pire '1 -7 .Geminiani @10.9125 f by way of said gland 27. The air pipe leads to a main air pipe 29 which is provided with a centrifugal air eXhauster or suction blower out.

, LThe shaft 17 is driven rotatively by means of a pulley 28 fastened thereto, and a belt 30 on the pulley. The belt 30 is in turn driven from a line shaft or the like (not shown).

As indicated in the drawings, the surface of the drum 18 has formed therein spaced circumferential grooves31 (Figs. 1 and 4). Y These grooves are preferably of a rectangular cross section, and they substantially cover the drum from end to end.

Fig. 1 shows that' the front wall 33 of the wind trunk substantially follows the periphery of the-drum 18 for distance of approximately ninetyl degrees of arc, and at the same time gradually approaches Vthe surface of the drum. At about the uppermost point on the drum, where only a narrow aperture 35 re vmains between said drum 18 and wall 33,

the wall 33 ends. The aperture 35 is of a size adapted to permit smooth passage of a flattened bag therethrough, butto prevent -excessive'leakage of air, for reasons to be made clear hereinafter. Y

Y Formed flatly against thelrespective sides 19 and 21,'of the drum 18, are ears or sides 37 yand 39 of the curved'portion 41 of the wind trunk. These sides 37 and 39 prevent appreciable leakage of air into the wind trunk at the ends of the cylinder 18. The sides ofthe drum are preferablymachined to fit .,atlyragainst these ears or sides. A lateral member 43 joining, the sides 37 and 39 and fastened to the inner or rear wall of the wind trunk, serves to hold a quantityof packing material 38 against the surface of drum 18 and in the grooves thereof, thereby L preventing leakage of air into vt-hewind trunk at its point of tangencywith the drum. It

- may be notedinFig.A l, that the inner wall of the trunk is formed tangentially with VVregard to thedrum and that inward radi A.il-

Aly bent tinesat the end of the rear wall e'.\:- tend into `the circumferential grooves 31, Vthereby holding said packing 38 iii-operaftive position. Y

n VEach groove 31 of the drum 18 is made to communicate withtheinterior of the drum I byway of a plurality of Vholes or openings Y the `wind trunk into the. drinn 18 by way of 47Y (see Fig. 4). Hence air may pass from the interior of the. curvedk portion V41 of such openings 47 as happenv to be at rsaid curved portion.` In `anypositioriof the drum. laplurality ofthese openings are in the said position at the curved" portion 41.

,ln order to prevent excessive passage of air through the openings 47 which are not at the curved portion 41, each groove 311s Vprovided with a slidable fitting, concentrica-lly formed finger 49, reaching from the said aperture v35 peripherally to engage the packing material 38 under or behind the wind trunk. From here each finger 49 passes downwardly out of its groove. All the fingers are preferably milled from or formed with a single plate 5l which is bolted to a lateral cross member 53. The :membery 53 is fastened to the said A-frames 7 and 9. AIt is to be understood that the fingers may be sprung into their slots where large radii are used, or they maybe formed sectio'nallyV where necessary. Y

The cross member 53 also carries at the right-hand end thereof a rearwardly formed and slotted member 55. Adjustably clamped to said slotted member is a take-ofi' rod or bar 57 which serves purposes to be described.

soA

The'bar 57 is preferably made adjustable in its slot, from a point on the drum center line .to some point well to the right thereof. A vertical adjustment, mightualso be employed, if desired.

In order to draw the'trunk l, there is provided at each side of said trunk anjopening V59. The openings 59 are formed opposite one another atabout the point of tangency of the rear `wall 45 of the trunk 1 with the drumf18. The positions' of openings 59 may be varied Vin eleva? tion, if desired. Two branch air pipes 61 lead from these openings59 to a portion 63 j air` vertically through v of the main air line 29. Fig. 1 shows .thatV f the portion 63 and the remainder of the line f 29 are of equal bores and are aligned. They are held in spaced relationship, end Ato end, by means of an aligning frame 65.V At the spaced portion of said pipes y63 and 29 is placed an automatic shutter valve of the followingdescription.

At the end of pipe63 is fastened a spider 67 in which are cut open radial equally spaced sectors 69.V The number of these may be varied, but for example, two are here shown. Each subtends slightly less than ninety degrees of arc. The spider 67 is preferably machined on its outer face. Rotatably and centrally mounted flatly againstA said spider isa machined disc 7.1. This disc 71 reaches'- radially through the open spaced port-ion between the pipes 63and 29 and fills this poi-tion enough Vto prevent a deleterious amount of air leakage. If desired, packing may be provided on the pipes to press against the disc 71. vWithin the pipes, the disc 71 is provided with 'approximately ninety deings 69 in the spider 67 every ninety degrees vll() grec, oppositely formed sector openings` 73 j V(Fig. 3). These openings 73, if thediscfi 1 is rotated, will of coursealign with the open-V Iair rises in thetrunlr.

vides an. air valve which, when; open, permits withdrawal of air from and .upvthe wind trunk, through the pipes 6l and G3i-o the main line 29, to the blower or suction device. When' this valve is closed,` substantially no It should be noted that,. even though a relatively loose tit is had between the spider 67 and disc 7l, that only a negligible amount of air leaks through the. valve'when it is closed. Ball bearings may be provided for the disc '71, thus elimi nating much wear under continuous action.

Inorder to rotate the air valve, the disc l is ilanged at right angles to term a pulley surface y il. belt 76 leaning from said surface and over a tight pulley 7'? on the said hollow shaft 17 serves to rotate the dise Tl and Vthereby to operate the valve when the shaft l? rotates. f

New', it is desired to have the valve operate only intermittently and to accomplish this, a mechanism is provided whereby the belt driven disc Z1 may be loclred against rotation until opening` of the if'alv'ey is required. .This involves slipping of the Vdriving belt '.1' 6 which therebyv acts as a Aslipping,I friction clutch, ready et alltimes to operate the valve. p

To hold the air valve in a closed position against the tendency of the belt to rotate its disc 7l, the pulley surface 75 istla-nged outwardly at one edge there-ot. rlhe flange 79 thus formed is spirally notchedy at points 8i. Pivota'lly mounted on said casting1 65 is a pawl-arm .83 provided with pa-wl adapted to engage either oi the notches Sli to stop' rotation ot the disc 7l. As shown in Figs. l and 3, the arnfr 83 is mounted over the valve so that `eiuvity. tends normally to engage the pawl' with a notch. This engagement is arranged. to take place (in the case of either notch) when the openings in thev spider 6T and' disc il are disal-igned, that is, when the air valve is shut. The design of the relative positionings between openings, notches and the pawh.accomplishes this purpose.

It is desired to have ,the air valve operate automatically to open when an ope.raftoi"s hand is inthe act/of bringing the mouth of a bag' upto the bottom of the wind trunk. To

accomplish this purpose the outer end oi the' pawl arm 83 provided with a downwardly extending pivoted rod 87. This rod pa downwardly through. a `-guide 89 formed nr the said. brace ll. lt pe .s on clfivnvferdly to a point innnediately adjacent to one end oit the mouth ot the wind trunl-i. The rot 8T is made adjustable in length by ineens of the coupling piece 88, whereby it may be vadj-usted in length. when the trunk l length. Hence an end knob 9i7 at the lower end ot the rod, can always be brought vintol guxtaposition with one trunlr mouth.

The opera-'tion' et the machineis as fellows,

edge and side of the Y cally is adjusted in assuming a counter-clockwise rotation et the drum 18 (Fig l) and looked position of.' the air valve; and also operation of the suction blower online 291 The operator graspsA a'- bag B- at eeeh corer of thev open Vmouth thereoi and thrusts seid mouth in, proximity-to the open lower end ot the wind trunk, ln soacting', his right hand in raising up, can readily be madoto raise the buttonv 91..

raises the rod 8? and consequently the pawl 85 is raised from one ot thenotches 8l. Hence, immediately the disc *Il is tree to'a'nd .does rotate under action oit the frictionfbelt 76. The air valve'is thereby opened, and air is drawn from the trunk l into the line 29,

by way of the upper sideward ports 59 and pipes 6l.' The maincurrent et air Vint-he trunlr is upward, inasmuch` as the aperture 35 at the drum edge does not permit passage ot air aswell as does the lower open end of the trunk. The air comes through the tru-nir in a puitA and'draws the bag upwardly into the truni, thereby turning` the bag as the operator holds it. The previously lower edge ol the bag now positioned approximately opposite the sidewardy ports 59. l-ence the air'passing outwardly trom said opposite ports 59 tends to Hatten or hold flattened the drawnup and turned y The `new lower edge of the bag retains its more or in the hands et the of the bag, gives it a slight tug downwardly,

whereat his hand releases the buttonL and This action. automsti-V consequent-ly the pawl 85 drops down; to engage a` saidr notch 8l. Under ordinary `conditions ot operation the; above events talre only an instantot time and only one opening ot the air valveis therefore required.. Hence the; pawl 85 usually engages the next notch in order to hold the valve shut. At each cooperation of the pawl with anotch the air valve is in a shut position. it, however, the

operator should inadvertently or otherwisev hold up the button 91, the air valve would merely continue to open andA close until the operator released the button 91. lele-nce the bag' would in any case be substantially held in the dottedV line position L shown in Fig: `l. The position L of the bag indicatesI that its bottom edge (now upward) cooperates with the surface oit' drum: 1.8. Thel length ot' 'the trunk is adnisted for such cooperation. r-w 1 1' 4 lhe cooperation takes place at tno; time he bag is turned in the manner previously de-l scribed.r It 1s to be remembered that air is.

continuously flowing' from the interior ot the drum 18 by way ot the sha-tt l? tothe suction side ot the air valve, .that is 29 by wey ofpipe 25? Hence air is ent the open portions of the grooves p the curvedportion ll ot' .the wind .trunlr from whence it enters the drum 18 to be drawn out' at pipe 17. This action of the air sucks or holds the bag edge to the drum surface. lf the bag is held in the trunk l (in position L) an unnecessary period of time, no harm has been done, inasmuch as the drum merely slips under the bag, that is, when there is resistance on the bag at its lower end.

New, when the bag is released by the operator from itsl positionL, the rip-current of air in the trunk l is cutolf in the manner described, thereby automatically preventing said current from drawing up the now free lower end of the bag and hence cruinpling it inthe wind trunk. p

Therefore the bag' at the instant the operator releases it, is suspended by gravity in the trunk with its now upper edge held to the drum surface by suction. It is in a desirable iiatposition. The drum i8 is of course rotating andimmediately upon release of the bag carries it upwardly through the portion ll ofv the trunlas well as to and through the aperture 35. As the bag rises, its position on the drinn 1S becomes more secure as more suction area of the grooves. is automatically applied to the bag. It is evident that the apertured drum i8 lcomprises a movable wall for the wind trunk adapted to have various portions of its surface cyclicallyV cooperate 30' y with the trunk to become a wall therefor. Each portion of the drum at some time is instantaneously a part of the vind trunk, and

i 1'c c ri ao c 've ie. thee eii orde s iogiessi lci Y proceeds. As the ,drum continues io rotate fand successive elements of the bag come to v the point N, they leave the drinn until the in holding the bag` to the drinn the descent-of the bagfcertain, dou'ni Y 'As the bag emerges from the aperture 35 (see position M of bag) it passes over the tines or fingers 49 in the grooves 3l. The tines arev downwardly beveled or tapered to facilitate such passage.` The leakage of air into the drumlS past the lingers 49 is enough to hold the bag to the drum surface as the bag descends at the rear thereof. This leakage may be adg` usted by design. Gravity aids surface as the bag clescends,'tliat is until the bag begins to traverse the lower are of the drum circle. The aid of gravity is then changed to an 'actiontending to pull the bag from the drum surface. However, the'suction of inrushing air is enough to hold the bag to the drum vl l v i l! lv suirace until tue foiwaid edge oi the pag reaches the point lv (Fig, l). t point N, the gravity component of pull acting on the baff is about amaximum and thetendencv Y en a .i

to accelerate the bag upwardly at this point,

results in the portion of the bag at point ll leaving the drum surface. in order to l'e entending ribs or tins ieniay oe formed w the fingers 49. 'lheseidefeat any tendency of the ban to y with the drum` su y.cc as it l assumes theposition @,Vwhc-rein the front portion is are ied over the lower cross-rod 57.

At this juncture the freeV weight of unsupported bag material has increased to an amount wher-eat Vthe remaining portion of the behind point N is quickly stripped from the drum surface by said weight, haelt Vto the rear edge P of the bag. This action puts the bag into position Q and falling downwardly. ltis arched well over the rod 5.1. Next, it` drops downwardly over the rod with approximately one-half the bag on either side of the rod. From this position the bag may readily be removed for stacking'. v

lt is to be understood that the leakage at any point on the travel-'of the bags may be increased or cecrcascd as desired, merely by changing' the widths of the fingers. For instance they might be tapered to give a varying holding force at the bag, whereby it could be released at any predetermined time. The rod 57 may be adjustably 1positioned. to catch the bags most advantageously.

'lf an operator should fail to'remove bags from the rod 57 for a period, no harm is done,

inasmuch as they merely gather there, one

on the other, until removed. y

' T ie fact that the air valve in line 29 operintermittently does not cause appreciably varying suct-ions to taire place in the line 25 and drum l1.8, inasmuch as centrifugal blowers have an operating` characteristic such that when the inlet volume of air is .decreased by cuttingdown the inlet area, the blower does V not increase lthe velocity of air in the decreased areas appreciably. The slippage in lt is instructivew note, as above, that the drum 1 8 forms a movable part of the wind trunk, broadly spealringL lt forms a lone/itudinally movable wall therefor.

In view of the above, it is believed Ythat the various features of this invention will be clear withoutfurther elaboration, and it will be seen that with the apparatus hereindescribed, the several objects .f the invention are achieved and other advantageous results Vd. f o is many changes could bemade in carrycut the above construction.without dcpa in' from the scope of the invention, it is intended that Vall matter 'contained in the al f description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall" bev interi reted as 've and not in a limiting sense.

illustra i Y l claim:v

l. A bag lturning machine comprising a inlet for drawing'a bag into said trunk, and sideward outlets in the edge walls thereof for drawing air through the trunk to turn a bag therein, the said positioning of the ports lbeing adapted to draw air for turning the grooves in the movable wall, means for draw-f ing air into and across each groove, whereby the bags are held to the wall and lingers in the grooves for decreasing the hold on the bags at a predetermined point.`

3. A bag turning machine comprising a wind trunk for turning the bags,a longitudidinally movable wall therein, longitudinal grooves in the movable wall, means for drawing air into and across each groove, whereby the bags are held4 to the wall, fingers in the grooves for decreasing the hold on the bags at a predetermined point, and oppositely formed ports at the sides of said trunk near the movable wall for drawing air through the trunk.

4. A bag turning machine comprising a wind trunk for turning the bags, a longitudinally movable wall therein, comprising a drum, peripheral grooves in the drum, means for drawing air into and across each groove, whereby the bags are held to the wall, and oppositely formed ports at the sides of said trunk near the movable wall for drawing air through t-he trunk, whereby the bags are turned into the trunk and atly held therein against said movable wall.

5. A bag turning machine comprising a wind trunk for turning the bags, a longitudinally movable wall therein, comprising a drum, openings arranged around the -complete periphery of the drum, means for drawing air into and across each opening, whereby the bags are held to the wall, and oppositely formed ports at the sides 'ofsaid trunk near the movable wall for drawing air through the trunk, whereby the bags are turned into the trunk and flatly held therein against said' movable wail, and means for stopping air iiow from said openings as the bags are successively turned and held to the movable wall.

6. A Vbag turningmachine comprising a wind trunk for turning bags, a hollow rotatable drum cooperating with the trunk, peripheral grooves on thesurface of the drum, means for drawing air into the drum by vway of said grooves, whereby turned bagsin the trunk are held to the drum surface to be j ejected from the trunk.

and means for .drawing air in't'osaid ports, whereby turned bags are held 'to thefdrum as they are `turned regardless of the tiiiiingjef the feeding of said bags, means for partial-ly blocking'the passage of airfto said ports at points outside the trunlrwhereby the holding action on 'the bags is decreased, AandI means for stripping theV bags from the vdrum at predetermined point. i

8. A bag turning machine comprising a wind trunk for turning the bags, a longitudinally continuously movable wall therein, spaced openingsy positioned along the entire periphery of the movable wall, and means for drawing air into and across each open'- ing, whereby the bags are held to the wall and whereby a bag may be received at. any instant by the wallv without speciiically timing the feeding of bags. i 9. A bag turning machine comprisinga wind trunk for turning bags, a rotatable drum cooperating with the trunkv having openings arranged completely around its periphery, means vfor drawing air through the openings, whereby the drum is adapted to be continuously in condition to hold the bags to its surface and eject them from the trunk` l0. A bag turning machine comprising a wind trunk for turning bags, a movable wall therein adapted to have given portions of its surface cyclically cooperate with thev trunk,` openings spaced completely around the periphery of the wall, and means for drawing air into said openings, whereby bags may be held to said wall at any instant to be ejected from the trunk. y Y

1l. A bag turning machine comprising la wind trunk for turning bags, a movablewall therein adapted to have given portions of its surface cyclically cooperate with the trunk,v

openings spaced completely around the periphery of thewall, means for drawing air into said openings, whereby bags may be held to said wall at any instant to be ejected from the trunk and means for partially obstructing the passage of -air through said openings at predetermined points for decreasing the suction hold on the bags.

12. A bag turning machine. comprising a wind trunk for turning bags, a movable wallV n therein adapted to have given portions of its surface cyclically cooperate with the trunk, openings spaced completely around the pe riphery of the wall, means for .drawing air into said openings, whereby bags may be held to said wall at any instant to be ejected from the trunk, means for partially obstructing the passage of air through said openings at predetermined points for decreasing lthe suction hold on the bags, and means for stripping the bags from the wall completely at a predetermined point. f

13. A bagturning machine comprising a wind trunk for turning bags, a movable wall therein adapted to have given portions of its lli) surface cyelcally cooperate with the trunk, openingsy spaced completely around the periphery of the wall, and means lfor drawing air intoY said openings, whei'eby bags may be held to said wall at any instant to be ejected Vfrom'the trunk, means for turning the bags into the trunk comprising openings located Vlaterally of the said wall in the trunk whereby bagsunay be drawn into the trunk and flat- Y tened on the said movable wall by withdiaw- 10 l November, 1925.

CHARLES F. SPARKS. 

